Illuminating the untempered soul and the blunt mind by hammering out sparks of Clarity and Truth on the Anvil of Debate.

"Sometimes, you go to war with the media you have, not the media you wish you had"
-Wordsmith

Monday, May 28, 2007

Memorial Day Tribute Video to Our Fallen Heroes (Updated )

I like this version better. A much cleaner edit; plus, I squeezed in a couple more images that I really wanted to have in the video. I also figured out why the music was getting cut off in photo story 3. I still had to run it through windows movie maker, though, for the title and credits. If anyone has the time to view the update, and if you saw the first version, I'd be curious to know if the changes made any significantly noticeable improvement to you.

Hope everyone has a reflective Memorial Day (along with the obligatory family barbecue).

An 18-months old, leans on the Lima Company Memorial next to her father's name, hospital medic Travis Youngblood, during the unveiling of a monument with the names of all 215 servicemen who served with Lima Company in Iraq.(AP)

I have family buried at Arlingon--one uncle who served in WWI and one who served in WWII. Both came home, but not really whole.

My uncle who served in WWI was permanently disabled as the result of shrapnel and being gassed; he could never work again, so he became my "grandfather." We were very close. When I was about eight years old, he died from compromised circulation in his wounded leg, complicated by respiratory problems--deteriorations the result of the wounds he suffered on the front lines as an infantryman. But he was the most fervent patriot I've ever known!

The other uncle served at Normandy. He just couldn't speak of what he went through there. He died of a massive coronary at age 39. Again, a patriot.

I am ever grateful for what The Old Guard do at Arlington each Memorial Day. Placing those flags is a solemn duty, and the men take that duty seriously. How do I know? My husband used to be an MP and Fort Meyer.

Would that every American took our fallen heroes so seriously and so reverently!

I thought you did a beautiful job on the first video, Wordsmith. It's wonderful, but yes, this one is better still. Especially the ending. I can't get through either one of them without crying. It's obvious you put a lot of work into it.

I'm praying the rain will stop here so we can put the flag up. It's raining cats and dogs here. We removed the old flag because it was beginning to shred. We get a lot of high winds here. I guess were going to have to slop out there in the rain and muck to do it. The ground is oversaturated and our front yard looks like a swamp! It's been raining for days. We have ten acres flooded out - so much so that it looks like lake front property!

I would be glad to send Mike some rain! We may need to build an Ark! This is a part of the country that almost never gets much rain and we've got so much that 10 acres of our property looks like a lake. People are driving where they shouldn't be driving and about 6 people have drowned so far.

But I came back to tell you, Wordsmith, that Walt and I trudged out into the yard and put the flag up in the rain. We couldn't stand the though of not having it up on Memorial Day. We were soaked but happy! :)

Ok that was beautiful and I too couldnt get through this without crying.

I like both version's, however you can read the credit's better on the updated version.

I have spent this day instead of the traditional BBQ, taking a couple of my kids to the the Oklahoma War Memorials downtown.

I was so pleased to see them so moved.

Hopefully all my Patriotism and Love for this Country, our Fallen, and those Fighting for our Freedoms today will rub off on them. I know it has on one :-)

And hopefully they pass it down to thier kids and so on and so on.

That's all I want out of life is to know I left a Patriotic impression on my children and grandchildren, and for them to respect those that serve, those we've lost, and those who continue to fight for our Freedom's today.

I like both version's, however you can read the credit's better on the updated version.

marie, thanks for the input. I'd still tweak the ending a bit; but I'm done for this year.

My favorite parts of doing the video and the results of the effort, are where words in the song coincide with certain images. Not always easy to make a song fit a specific theme it wasn't specifically meant for.

You're a great, patriotic mother, btw, marie. Your kids are learning to appreciate America and the sacrifices made by those who stand and fall in protection of all of our loved ones.

skye, I enjoyed the sweetness of freedom very much yesterday. I spent part of the day at the National Cemetery, and posted photos below this post.

j_g, You folks make me misty-eyed too, when you make me reflect back upon the day and its significance.

Memorial Day morning, I was at a clients home, and asked him if he wanted to watch the video I made. He sniffled through it, and that also made me get all shivery and misty inside.

angel, thanks for the visit.

old soldier, no need to apologize. I'm often finding myself in the same boat. Too many blogs to visit on a regular basis. I'm glad that you did come by to visit this one post, though.